Panther boys break school record

In the final leg of the 2A boys' 1600 meter relay, Ben Falk races ahead of a Shoshoni competitor on his way to first place. The Panthers' time of 3:32.09 at the state tourney broke the SHS boys' 1600 meter relay record set in 2012.

Breaking a school record in the process, the Saratoga High School boys' 1600 meter relay team sped to first place at the 2014 Wyoming High School State Track and Field Championships.

During the final track event of the three-day weekend tourney, Cameron Collamer, Ben Falk, Hunter Mason and Alex Ziegler raced toward a time of 3:32.09, which broke the 2012 SHS boys' 1600 meter record of 3:32.25.

Collamer, who placed first at state last year with the 3200 meter relay, said there was steep competition going to into this year's 1600. As a senior, he said placing first again was a great way to end his high school track and field career.

"I don't know if we expected to get first, but I know we really had to get ahead of Shoshoni and Thermopolis to give Ben a chance," he said. "Both teams had really good anchors and time-wise we were all really close, but we were just thinking we needed to give it our best and see what happens. It feels pretty good for me and Ben to end our high school careers in track and sports in general, and go out with a bang. It's really good to try and help our team in the best way we can, because everyone this weekend did really great."

Falk agreed that achieving first again was a good sendoff to his high school athletic career. He had also earned first at state last year with the 1600 meter relay team.

"I thought we were going to do well, but I didn't know how well," Falk said. "We had a good game plan and we were determined, and everyone tried their best. It definitely paid off. Everyone was really successful, and it's just great to go out like this."

Mason said their first-place win validated all hard work put in over the past three months.

"We knew we were going to have break the school record in order to win, and that's what we did," he said. "It's tremendous being able to win, because it's really hard to put in a lot of work during the season. It's pretty sweet being able to say that we got first, especially with how hard it really is to be the best at state."

Ziegler, the lone freshman for the relay team, said he looked forward to three more years of state track and field tournaments.

"I thought we were going to at least get into the top three, and I'm excited to come back here next year and see if we can do it again," he said.

Individual athletes in the top three at state were Falk, who placed third in both the 400 meter dash and long jump finals, and Collamer, who made third in the 800 meter run finals. Overall, the SHS boys tied for fifth place with Big Piney, out of 20 participating 2A boys' teams.

For the girls, Kelsie Samson earned fifth place in the 1600 meter run finals, achieving the highest rank for her team.

We had a great weekend of track and field, and our kids were rewarded for their hard work," said head coach Rex Hohnholt.

Complete Saratoga results from the May 22-24 tournament, held at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper: